Please join us in welcoming METRANS Student Worker Axel Hellman to the METRANS student assistant team. Axel started working with METRANS this month, and will specialize in writing, editing, and research review.

Axel Hellman is a progressive degree student at the University of Southern California, in the last semester of his senior year of his undergraduate degree, and in his second semester as a graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in planning. Hellman is also employed by USC Transportation, where he provides planning and administrative support to the department, assists with logistics during special events, and audit buses for on-time performance.

Hellman grew up in the beautiful town of Montclair, New Jersey, a place he credits for his initial interest in transportation planning. His passion for transportation planning started because he frequently walked, biked, and used public transportation to go to school and get around town. Hellman became involved with a local group called Bike & Walk Montclair that does active transportation advocacy after his freshman year of college. His career objective is to assist in planning the transit operations of cities in the United States and heis particularly interested in how public policy can be used as a tool to motivate private businesses to provide public services.

Outside of school and professional goals, many of his interests are around food. Hellman has a vegetable garden at his house at USC and raises chickens together with a friend.  He likes to bake bread and make sauces, preserves, and pickles to store.

Arpita Sharma

Arpita Sharma is a dual Master of Public Policy and Master of Planning Candidate at the USC Price School. She is interested in issues of health inequities, sustainable land use development and active transportation.  She expects to complete her degrees in May 2017. She can be reached at arpitasharma.net or at [email protected].